By Yinka Kolawole
Nigeria’s manufacturers are increasingly embracing local sourcing and value addition as a survival strategy to reduce dependence on imported inputs amid rising production costs that continue to undermine their competitiveness within the domestic and regional markets.
Industry operators, however, warn that without lower financing costs, improved infrastructure, better logistics and stronger government support for local raw material development, the country’s manufacturing sector may struggle to fully harness opportunities under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Speaking in a television interview, Director General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Segun Ajayi-Kadir, said manufacturers are increasingly investing in local sourcing and value addition to reduce exposure to imported raw materials, but stressed that the prevailing exchange rate remains too high to support competitive industrial production.
Ajayi-Kadir warned that although
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